Bring Sustainability to Employees’ Backyards

The national nonprofit Living Lands & Waters began its MillionTrees Project in 2007 by collecting and planting acorns. The group harvests growing saplings and partners with communities and companies like GM to meet its ambitious goal—growing 1 million trees across the United States. In 2017, 27 GM facilities in seven states took part, providing more than 25,000 oak trees to employees and their families for Earth Day and Arbor Day plantings. Milford Proving Ground alone distributed 3,500 trees, with the goal of not only educating today’s GM team, but also showing a commitment to the next generation.

“The MillionTrees Project allows our employees to see firsthand that their actions can make a difference,” says Brenda Korth, lead environmental engineer at Milford Proving Ground. “It is not just about planting a single tree, it is about building momentum to change the way people think about environmental efforts, both at work and in their personal lives.” GM has reserved 15,000 trees to distribute in 2018.